What is it with some folk eh…I have been commuting now for about 3 years and I tend to see the same fellow cyclists each day and most to be fair whether they are forced to bike or do it because the want to, make the bike they ride fit for the journey….but some just seem oblivious to the dreadful state their bike is in despite the fact they are working much harder than the other commuters out there. I'm not talking about the brand or kudos of their steed but the state of it's upkeep and set up that amazes me.
For about 6 months now i have passed the same guy grunting his way along a section of his route and i now feel compelled to pull along side and ask him why he rides with a seat so low his knees hit his chest or if he would maybe like some air in the tyres that are about to come off the rim and dont even get me started on the noise coming from the moving parts of the bike or the bright orange chain that is just pleading for some oil. I mean seriously WTF, it's like walking around with a stone in your shoe, it's just easier to stop and remove it surely!! I appreciate that not all cyclists are as anally retentive as some of us about their bikes but if you have to do it every day for christ sake just spend the 5mins it takes to get the thing fit for purpose….and strangely these people are always wearing their big old coat no matter what the weather just to add to their general discomfort!!! Ok rant over…i guess there's nowt queer as folk.

My nephew was over at the house a couple of nights back with his bike. I was so appalled at the condition it was in I gave it a mini service – the bars were on wrong (the brake levers were sticking up vertically), the brakes were rubbing and virtually ineffectual, both tyres were down to about 10psi, no chain lube in a long time, rear wheel fitted squint, front wheel just about to fall off, gears not indexing etc. 15 minutes and it was a lot better – about as good as one of those £99 BSO's is every going to be!

I also weighed it – over 33lbs for a rigid bike with fairly narrow tyres! That's slightly heavier than my Enduro with coil Pikes and a coil shock…

I fixed up a students bike when I ran a cycle hire place .It was a crappy old appollo with all the problems stated by the op. Cost to me about an hour no parts just a service the girly student thought it felt like new and her commute home was 5 minutes quicker (about 1 1/2 miles!)I charged her a cup of tea and a bit of cake as it was quiet at the time.